Budweiser beer makes ad with trans influencer, suffers boycott and dismisses directors – 04/25/2023 – Market

An advertising action involving the best-selling beer in the United States and a transgender influencer brought down the company’s sales and ended in the dismissal of two executives.

The case involves Bud Light, a lighter version of Budweiser, AB InBev’s beer, which has Brazilians Jorge Paulo Lemann, Carlos Alberto Sicupira and Marcel Telles among its controllers.

The episode is the latest in a series of actions by conservative groups against transgender rights, and has been described by the American press as a microcosm of the debate in the United States today.

On the first of this month, the trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney, who has 1.8 million followers on Instagram and 10.8 million on TikTok, published an advertising video with the brand, in which he shows six beers he received with a drawing of her own face emblazoned on the can, to commemorate one year since she publicly came out as trans.

Reactions were immediate and conservative groups began a boycott campaign accusing the beer of sponsoring transgender agendas, of “mocking” women and of exposing children to sexuality.

Two days after the publication of the influencer, the musician Kid Rock, who was successful in the country between the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s, recorded a video with a semi-automatic rifle in which he machine-gunned beer boxes. Well-known influencers on the right, such as Ben Shapiro, also called for a boycott.

There was also a bomb threat to a company factory in Los Angeles, according to the local press.

The shares of Anheuser-Busch, owner of the brand, fell just 5% shortly after the start of the boycott, representing a loss of US$ 6 billion (R$ 30 billion) in market value, according to the Axios portal.

Two weeks later, however, Donald Trump Jr, son of former President Donald Trump, called for an end to the boycott saying he did not want to “destroy an iconic American company” and that the company has historically given more to conservative politicians than to progressive ones.

Data released on Tuesday (25) by market research firm NielsenIQ and consulting firm Bump Williams showed that, in the week ending April 25, beer sales fell 17%. In the previous week, they had fallen by 6%.

Amidst the shock, the company made changes to its marketing teams. Alissa Heinerscheid, Bud Light’s vice president of marketing, has gone on leave, and Daniel Blake, Anheuser-Busch’s vice president in charge of legacy brands, has stepped down.

The manufacturer did not respond to the report’s request for comment until the publication of this text. The week before, the brand told CNN that it “works with hundreds of influencers as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across different demographics” and that, from time to time, it produces commemorative cans for fans and influencers alike. . “This commemorative tin was a gift to commemorate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public.”

In a letter released to the public, the company’s CEO, Brendan Whitworth, said he never wanted to “be part of a discussion that divides people”. “Our business is to bring people together for a beer.”

The episode was the latest in a series of conservative brand stock reactions. In January, there was a boycott against chocolate M&Ms after the company changed its character designs and stopped depicting mascots perceived as feminine with boots perceived as “sexy”, among other things. The presenter Tucker Carlson, recently fired from Fox News, even complained on air that one of the characters had “turned into a lesbian”.

Conservative guidelines on customs related to sexuality and gender are on the rise in the United States. According to a report by the Movement Advancement Project (MAP), an institution that researches and monitors issues related to the topic, there were more than 650 anti-LGBTQIA+ projects proposed this year across the country.

At least nine states have passed laws prohibiting treatment for underage transgender people. In Texas, parents of trans children and young people can be investigated for child abuse. In 19 states, transgender students are prohibited from participating in youth sports. In seven US states, trans students cannot use restrooms that reflect their identity.